Italy | Florence | David and Galleria dell'Accademia | Dec 2015

The Academy of Fine Arts, founded in 1563, was the first school established in Europe specifically to teach the techniques of drawing, painting and sculpture. The art collection displayed here was formed in 1784 to provide material for students to study and copy. The most famous work is Michelangelo’s ‘David’ (1504), a colossal (5.2m) nude statue of the biblical hero who killed the giant Goliath. The sculpture was commissioned by the city for Piazza della Signoria, but it was moved to the Accademia for safekeeping in 1873. One copy now stands in its original position and a second is on Piazzale Michelangelo. The ‘David’ established Michelangelo, at the age of 29, as the foremost sculptor of his time.